


Gym Creatures

by ivyness



Series: AU Yeah August 2018 [29]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gym, M/M, au yeah august
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-18 08:56:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16991937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivyness/pseuds/ivyness
Summary: There are five types of people who go to the gym





	Gym Creatures

Sidney had never been to the gym before. 

When Sidney had been living at home, his dad had kept a small corner of the basement filled with weights, ropes and anything else he could get his hands on. Although most of his time was taken up by hockey practice and drills, his dad never let him neglect his general conditioning. 

After moving to Pittsburg, Mario’s house had had all the equipment Sidney could ever need. Even after moving out into his own place, Sidney still kept a key and the jog back to Mario’s was a nice warm-up.

So Sidney had no idea what to expect at an actual gym. He figured it would be a lot like practicing with the other penguins: loud and friendly, sometimes gross and annoying, but with a general air of focus and concentration. He wasn’t wrong but he also wasn’t right. 

1\. The mirror hog

Sidney was groggy and pissed and he just wanted to get his morning workout out of the way so that he could go home and drink a peanut butter and kale smoothie. 

It was crazy early and Sidney only needed to do some quick weight work. He hoped he could be in and out with minimal human contact. He was wrong, of course. 

The weights were stacked up neatly in front of a larger mirrored wall, a couple of benches scattered around the heavy matted floor. A muscular guy in a white tank top and slicked back hair sat on one of the benches facing the mirrored wall. The guy breathed loud and heavy, lips pursed, as he stared at the bulge of his biceps as he curled his weights up to his shoulder.

Sidney quietly grabbed his own pair of weights and moved to the far side of the mat to begin his own reps. 

The other guy let out a loud groan and pushed himself to his feet. He picked up a lighter set of weights and lifted them to shoulder height, bending his elbows to ninety degrees and making his biceps pop obscenely. Sidney watched in fascinated horror as the guy preceded to kiss first his left and then his right bicep, winked at himself in the mirror and then plopped down into a terribly ugly squat. 

Sidney itched to correct the guy's form. Usually, Sidney liked to encourage concentration during weight work; bad habits were all to easy to develop but there was such a thing as paying too much attention to your reflection. 

Another person walked up to the weights. He wasn’t as bulky as the mirror hog but had a sturdy build to him. Sidney bet that he could do proper squats; the guy had thighs like a tree trunk. Sidney looked up into an amused gaze and Sidney quickly jerked his eyes away, trying very hard not to look in the mirror. He couldn’t afford to get distracted, not by oddly bulging biceps or handsom tree trunk thighs. 

2\. The equipment hoarder

Despite what everyone else said, Sidney did have a life outside of hockey. It’s just that most weekends, unless the trainers had specifically banned him from training, Sidney didn’t have anything better to do than go to the gym. 

Sidney liked having a routine and if he was at the machines he had a very specific order for how to go through them but someone was already at the first machine in his order. They sat at the leg abduction machine with their eyes glued to their phone. They had not moved for fifteen minutes. 

Sidney wandered around the machines, hovering without trying to look like he was hovering. He was pretty sure it wasn’t working. 

Sidney had only turned his head away for one minute but that was all it took and the next thing he knew someone else was sliding into the chair. The newcomer was quick to start and equally quick to finish. They stood and moved over to the neighboring Adduction machine and Sidney quickly moved to set up before anyone else could claim it again. 

“Hey! Excuse you. I’m still using that.”

Sidney looked over at the guy in confusion. He was still working at the neighboring machine. “But you’re not using it right now,” Sidney pointed out somewhat obviously.

The guy stuck up his nose, his legs still pumping and the weights still thumping. “I’m doing a rotational workout. I’ll be back to it in a minute.”

Sidney stared at the dude, unsure what to say. So he was waited and watched the guy go through his reps and rotate through five other machines.

When the guy finally finished and Sidney sat down to start he breathed a huge sigh in relief. 

“Are you almost done using that?”

Sidney jumped in surprised and banged his elbow against a metal strut, hissing in pain. 

“Are you okay?” Tree trunk legs asked, looking worried. 

Sidney flailing his hands in frustration, “Yes! Now can everyone please just go away?” 

The guy smiled, making his dimples pop and his eyes sparkle in mischief. He held his hands up in surrender and leaned back to settle in and watch. “Just don’t hog the machines.”

Sidney rolled his eyes and started his workout. 

3\. The germinator 

Sidney didn’t like people. They would spit, sweat, bleed and just generally be kind of gross. He thought hockey players had set the lowest bar of hygiene. Sidney was very wrong.

Sidney had just finished his warm up routine and sat on the bench to begin his weights training when he immediately jumped up in disgust. The seat was covered in sweat and he could feel it soaking into the back of his shirt and shorts.

Sidney glared at the room at large. There were paper towel dispensers and hand sanitizer on the walls for a reason. He was too grossed out to continue his workout and headed gingerly for the locker rooms, trying not to let his wet shorts touch his skin. The moment he was secluded in the locker rooms he dropped his shorts and headed for the showers.

Changing everyday in a room full of hockey players had quickly gotten rid of Sidney’s body shyness but slamming into a completely nude dude coming out of the showers was still enough to set his face aflame. 

He stuttered out an apology, threw his towel in their face and fled to his locker. Sidney pulled it open and stuck his head inside like an ostrich trying to hide, while his mind spun with images of tree trunk thighs, broad shoulders, and a heavy co- no he wasn’t thinking about it.

Sidney heard laughter coming his way and he spun around with a glare. The towel barely covered anything and Sidney jerked his eyes back up to glare at a very nicely proportioned, smiling face.

“Done already?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Sidney said.

“You don’t usually leave so early.”

Sidney shrugged uncomfortably, “People are gross.”

The guy nodded sagely, “Germinators,” surprising a laugh out of Sidney. “I’m Geno.”

Sidney nodded and shifted on his feet in hesitation. Geno just smiled wider and waited patiently. “Sidney.”

Geno grinned and slapped him heavily on the shoulder and Sidney breathed a sigh of relief that Geno hadn’t recognized him. “Good. Come the same time tomorrow and I’ll help you fix your leg presses,” Geno said.

Sidney narrowed his eyes. “What are you talking about. My leg presses are fine.”

“You overextend your knees.”

Sidney glared because Geno was probably right. “Yeah, well, your squats need work.”

Geno laughed, retucking the towel around his waist as he headed for his own locker. “Sure, Sid.”

3\. The Couples

Sidney stared at the couple on the mat. They were doing some weird sort of yoga lift with weights and Sidney refused to be jealous of such an obnoxiously showy couple. 

The girl jumped down and hauled her partner up for a chaste kiss and a giggle and then pushed them back down for some pushups. They were so cute it was hard to look away.

“Sid!” Geno called, crossing the room to slap a heavy hand against his shoulder. “You are late.”

“What are you talking about? You’re the one who’s late.” Sidney replied.

Geno ruffled Sidney’s hair and grinned, unrepentant, at Sidney’s glare. “You’re just always early,” Geno said and tugged Sidney towards the mats and the couple on the floor. “Come help me stretch.”

“You can stretch just fine on your own.” Sidney complained. But he still kneeled down to push on Geno’s back to help him reach his toes. Geno’s back was warm as his muscles strained and stretched and Sidney could feel his face heat up. Geno groaned and pushed his legs out wide, reaching for the floor and heads turned and stared in open interest. Sidney buried his head in his hands, the hands still firmly planted on Geno’s wide, warm back. He was so screwed.

5\. The Hottie

“Go on a date with me.”

Sidney stared at Geno in horror, “No.”

Geno’s face crumpled and Sidney felt his heart clench in pain, “Am I no good?”

Sidney shifted nervously on his feet, wanting to go and wrap Geno up in a big hug. Instead, he awkwardly reached out to pat Geno’s arm. “It’s not you, it’s me.” Geno glared and snatched Sid’s hand to tug him out the door of the gym. “Where are we going?”

“Home,” Geno said as he pulled Sidney through the parking lot towards his car.

“What do you mean we’re going home? We just got here!”

Geno spun around to glare at Sidney. “We have been living together for three months and spend all our other time together at the gym. ” Geno pointed an accusatory finger at Sidney. “You are taking me out on a real date.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

Geno raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “You want sex?” Sidney felt his face explode with heat and he sputtered. Geno just crowded closer and pushed Sidney up against the car. “No date, no sex.”

Sidney stared at Geno’s obnoxiously soft smile. “Yeah, okay.”

Geno planted a peck of a kiss on his nose and Sidney reached up to pull Geno down for a real kiss. “I’m a catch, you know.” Geno said, bumping his nose against Sidney’s cheek.

“Yeah, you’re a real hottie.”


End file.
